Five Reportedly Fatally Injured, Two Unaccounted For

An AN-24 airliner with 44 people on board reportedly went down during a landing attempt in the Doketsk region of Ukraine, according to the state-owned Russian news service RIA Novosti. An official said "The plane missed the landing strip, turned upside down, and broke into pieces."

Of the 45 people on board, five were reportedly fatally injured in the accident, and one was reported to be missing. The remainder of the passengers and crew were evacuated before the aircraft caught fire, and 12 reportedly sustained non-fatal injuries.

Those on board were said to be soccer fans on a charter flight from the Black Sea port city of Odessa to Donetsk. CNN relays a report from Pravda that they were traveling to the UEFA Champions League game between Borussia Dortmund and Shakhtar Donetsk.

The Ukrainian media reports that the airplane was operated by South Airlines based in Odessa. Aviation safety officials are traveling to the site of the accident to begin their investigation.

The BBC reports that there were unconfirmed reports of heavy fog at the airport at the time of the accident. Among those on board were a number of politicians and businessmen from the Odessa region.

(AN-24 pictured in file photo)

FMI: www.airliners.net/aircraft-data/stats.main?id=37